Football: CL is back

[Mark Antony]

What an idiot Verrati is. PSG have given up since Ronaldo scored even before that second yellow.

[Consigliere]

That's Emery sacked then?

[Mark Antony]

Has to be. Will be interesting to see who they hire next. Ancelotti maybe? 

[Jordan La Cabra]

Expected a far more interesting match than the one served up in Paris. 

Credit to Real Madrid, though, for a very efficient performance. Apart from the goal, and an opportunity where Mbappe shot when he should have squared it to Cavani, PSG hardly had a sniff.

All the money they have spent yet they appear no closer to winning the Champions League.

[Consigliere]

Conte must be near the top of the list.

[Jordan La Cabra]

1 minute ago, Mark Antony said:

Has to be. Will be interesting to see who they hire next. Ancelotti maybe? 

Arsene Wenger stands down as Arsenal manager in the summer. He takes the PSG job. He leads them to Champions League glory next season.

[Jordan La Cabra]

1 minute ago, Consigliere said:

Conte must be near the top of the list.

Can he take the job now?

[Consigliere]

Heh, Wenger standing down as Arsenal manager? Not gonna happen. The man just can't let go at this point. He only leaves if he is sacked or isn't offered a new contract after next season.

[Consigliere]

2 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Can he take the job now?

Think Conte will desperately want out of Chelsea at the end of the season. If PSG come knocking, he's gone. He certainly won't be able to complain about transfer spending at PSG.

[baxus]

3 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Expected a far more interesting match than the one served up in Paris. 

Credit to Real Madrid, though, for a very efficient performance. Apart from the goal, and an opportunity where Mbappe shot when he should have squared it to Cavani, PSG hardly had a sniff.

All the money they have spent yet they appear no closer to winning the Champions League.

To be honest, I think PSG would've had a much better shot at getting closer if Neymar was fit for tonight's match. Not saying they would've definitely gone through but their chances would've been much better.

Liverpool vs Porto was a snoozefest. Glad to see Liverpool keep a clean sheet, rest a couple of players (but not 5-6 of them  ) and go through without a hassle. Other than that, this match will quickly be forgotten.

[Jordan La Cabra]

1 minute ago, Consigliere said:

Think Conte will desperately want out of Chelsea at the end of the season. If PSG come knocking, he's gone. He certainly won't be able to complain about transfer spending at PSG.

It’s an unhappy marriage, at the moment, Conte and Chelsea. It’s as clear that he doesn’t want to be at Chelsea as it is that Chelsea don’t want him there, either. Looks like both are going to hang onto each other until the season ends.

Brilliant manager, and deserves all the credit for last season’s title victory, but this one has been poor from the start, much of that down to his negativity.

He had issues with Juve’s board for not spending and has issues with ours, as we apparently don’t show the ambition that Man City does.

PSG would be perfect for him. He wouldn’t even have to ask for the best players in the world; the PSG owners would deliver them to him anyway.

If not PSG, then back to the Italian national team. No transfers involved with international football. All he could do is complain that Brazil produce better footballers than Italy.

[Jordan La Cabra]

10 minutes ago, baxus said:

To be honest, I think PSG would've had a much better shot at getting closer if Neymar was fit for tonight's match. Not saying they would've definitely gone through but their chances would've been much better.

True, he was a big loss. There were a few times they seemed to lack quality on the ball in the final third - something he could have brought. Though he did play in the first leg and they didn’t win it either.

Looking at the two sides tonight, I thought PSG had more than enough to beat Real Madrid, given the players missing from Real’s midfield.

[Daemon the Leaner]

I would actually like to see what Conte can do with PSG. Could be devastating -much more than his Chelsea was last year.

Anyway, that Ronaldo goal was a real rock in the gut for PSG as they were bouncing back in the early 2nd half. Brilliant cross from Marcelo too. He landed the ball exactly where Ronaldo wanted it to be.

I do hope that Real draws another big contender, such as Barça -should they qualify- or City. Otherwise, I think we can prepare ourselves for a back-to-back-to-back. This would be annoying.

[Consigliere]

10 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

True, he was a big loss. There were a few times they seemed to lack quality on the ball in the final third - something he could have brought. Though he did play in the first leg and they didn’t win it either.

Looking at the two sides tonight, I thought PSG had more than enough to beat Real Madrid, given the players missing from Real’s midfield.

PSG have quality individuals but are not a team. They are also all seemingly allergic to passing the ball to Cavani. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

2 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Looking at the two sides tonight, I thought PSG had more than enough to beat Real Madrid, given the players missing from Real’s midfield.

Well, difference is, PSG is the big fish in a rather small pond, while Real is a big fish in a much bigger pond. So they pushed a bit more in the league. And Madrid is a grown team, that has been playing together in this form for years. Switching managers every two and bringing in 3 new players every year is not going to help them longterm.

Having that said, of course PSG would have had better chances with Neymar, as he is simply pure quality as a footballer.

 

27 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Heh, Wenger standing down as Arsenal manager? Not gonna happen. The man just can't let go at this point. He only leaves if he is sacked or isn't offered a new contract after next season.

Don't worry, United have worked out a deal with Arsenal. Mourinho work in London again and needs no longer to travel by train every day, and you get Wenger in return. Thus keeping the misery levels equal in both clubs.

[Consigliere]

2 minutes ago, Notone said:

Don't worry, United have worked out a deal with Arsenal. Mourinho work in London again and needs no longer to travel by train every day, and you get Wenger in return. Thus keeping the misery levels equal in both clubs.

I'd rather have the turgid football of Mourinho instead of the all round cluelessness of Wenger, tbh. 

[Jordan La Cabra]

I always thought Real Madrid were going to go through, by the way.

I just thought that, looking at the two line ups tonight, one could have argued PSG’s XI was stronger than Real Madrid’s. Ronaldo’s prescence usually counters any imbalance, though.

I thought that PSG would have been able to dominate the middle of the park more than they did against an unfamiliar Real Madrid midfield. That coupled with the fact they were the team chasing the game should have given them enough to make the game tighter, if not win it.

As it happened, Real Madrid’s experience in the latter stages of this competition outweighed any of that, and they went through even more comfortably than I expected.

[ljkeane]

Spurs are all over Juve with their pressing.

It's really interesting seeing English team's seemingly ahead of the curve with their style of play. It's been a while.

Having said that it could easily have been a penalty with Vertonghen's challenge.

[Mark Antony]

Clear clear pen. Spurs are lucky boys

[Consigliere]

Yeah, that was a clear pen and right in front of the official behind the goal line. Those refs really are pointless. Nice to see that Spurs are no longer overawed by these big games. They bossed Juve in the 1st leg and continue that tonight.